My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 231: The Gate of Mourning

Chapter 231: Chapter 231: The Gate of Mourning

The thick stench of blood was almost too much for Han Fei to keep his eyes open. He didn’t know what the woman before him had gone through in Beast Alley. He had many questions he wanted to ask, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn’t utter a single word.

Reaching into the pocket close to his body, Han Fei took out a dinner knife wrapped in human skin.

"Someone stole your knife, I want to return it to you."

Grasping the cursed blade in his palm, Han Fei extended the handle to the woman.

"According to the thief, if even one dinner knife is missing, the curse you possess will be incomplete, and your strength will be weakened."

At this moment, if the other party were to grab the handle and thrust it forward, they could easily plunge the blade into his body.

In the Deep World, aside from Han Fei, there probably wouldn’t be another person daring enough to hand a cursed knife to someone else.

Different faces flickered in the eyes beneath the pig-faced mask, the woman’s pale and delicate hand slowly lifted.

In Beast Alley, filled with dismembered limbs and flesh, amidst a blood fog that continued to spread, the woman grabbed the handle of the knife.

"Don’t ever point the tip of the knife at yourself again," a familiar voice came from beneath the mask. The woman’s words seemed to carry a double meaning.

"Of course, I wouldn’t do this with anyone else," Han Fei said as he let go of the blade’s edge, his palm oozing shallow black blood. Yet he seemed to feel no pain whatsoever.

The instant Han Fei released his hold, the woman stabbed the dinner knife into the pig-faced mask on the ground. Surprisingly, blood flowed from the seemingly ordinary mask.

Only after the mask had completely shattered did the woman put away the dinner knife.

Her sanguine eyes fixated on Han Fei for a long time before she entered a dilapidated house beside them, coming out with a withered tree branch.

The pruned tree branch was impaled with hearts, some of which were still faintly beating.

"What is this?"

"Pig hearts."

Throwing the branch to Han Fei, the woman glanced next to him. The Black Giant Python, as if trying to ingratiate itself, started to crawl forward, but the woman turned and re-entered the old house as if still seeking something else.

The Black Giant Python stopped halfway. It opened its pitch-black mouth as if screaming silently. It felt like the woman no longer recognized it in its current form.

With the pig hearts in hand, Han Fei cautiously approached the one-eyed pig-faced monster on the ground.

The creature was almost dismembered and was barely clinging to life.

Seeing Han Fei approach, the monstrous face lost its ferocity, adopting an expression much like that of a human.

Its black eyeball lost focus and its color faded. From its mouth came a faint sound; it seemed to be pleading with Han Fei, hoping he would spare it.

"Sparing you would mean harming more innocent people."

The pig-faced monster knew it couldn’t escape this fate. Its eyes filled with malice, as if it had already seen Han Fei’s end. They would all ultimately sink into the hell of flesh and blood.

"I want to become the Midnight Butcher, not because I enjoy slaughter or because the sight of blood brings me pleasure and excitement. I just want to have the right to wield a knife, to live better."

"If killing can bring safety and hope to the residents of the building, then whether I serve as a butcher or any other profession doesn’t matter."

Han Fei grabbed the Boning Knife with his right hand and wasted no time in beheading the pig-faced monster with all his might.

The blood stained his clothes. When the pig-faced monster lost its last breath of life, Han Fei received a prompt from the system.

"Evaluation four! Slaughter is a job for the Butcher. Regardless of what living being lies on the chopping block, death is the final gift a Butcher bestows upon his prey."

In their quest for food, people killed livestock and devoured their flesh.

In Beast Alley, the Monster massacred the entire Wang family, leaving their mangled corpses piled in the corner of the alley.

One killing was for survival, another for pleasure; both were acts of killing, yet fundamentally different.

The system’s recent assessment of Han Fei carried this implication, that not all Butchers are the same.

"Player number 0000, please note! You have successfully completed the task of killing! Based on task evaluation, your compatibility with the Hidden Profession Midnight Butcher is now 75%!"

"Note! The higher the compatibility with the Profession, the more you can utilize Professional Characteristics and Abilities!"

"You now have the preliminary qualifications to become a Midnight Butcher! You can see most of the souls within the Slaughter Sabers!"

"Slaughter Sabers are crucial to a Midnight Butcher. A good Slaughter Saber can significantly increase Professional Compatibility, while a poor one might even incessantly seek to kill its wielder."

"If you decide to undergo the Profession change, please take your chosen Slaughter Saber and go to the Butcher’s House!"

"Butcher’s House (a Hidden Building within the Hidden Map): At the very north of Beast Alley, there stands a Red House visible only to those with bloodstained hands."

"Note! Before you enter that building, make sure to remember to wear a mask!"

Having completed the task of killing, Han Fei had gained the qualifications to become a Midnight Butcher, but the final location for the transformation was in the Butcher’s House.

"Butcher’s House? Isn’t that where Spider killed its other eight Personalities? And I must wear a mask? Isn’t that the very thing Spider hates the most, people wearing Pig-faced Masks?"

Han Fei reread the task information again and again. The system only warned him to be sure to wear a mask but didn’t say that he couldn’t complete the task without one.

"The tasks in this Beast Alley are filled with weirdness; it’s better to be prepared for anything."

Xu Qin had smashed a mask, but there was another on the head of the Pig-faced Monster on the ground.

Han Fei wiped off the blood and put it into his Item Bar.

He was one step closer to the Profession change, had found Xu Qin, and in addition, after completing the task, he could leave the game anytime he wanted. One piece of good news followed another, allowing Han Fei to breathe a little easier and feel less tense.

"For a Butcher, the Slaughter Saber is of utmost importance, and can’t be replaced casually. With so many knives here in Beast Alley, it seems I need to choose carefully."

As Han Fei spoke, he looked at the Boning Knife in his hand. This time, the information he saw was completely different.

"Mourning Door (Damaged G-Level Slaughter Saber): Imprisoning the Dead Souls of a family of six, it uses Hatred as its blade! An Evil Ghost within the blade has turned on its user, causing the blade to shatter, carrying an extremely ominous Curse."

"Note! As you have fortuitously saved its family members, you temporarily have the right to use this blade, but if you want to make it your Slaughter Saber, you must be prepared for backlash."

"Overall evaluation: This is a blade that has turned on its user; it is more powerful than you imagine, but also more dangerous! Using this blade will decrease your Professional Compatibility to 65% and you are highly likely to be Cursed."

After seeing the system’s evaluation, Han Fei frowned, then attempted to pick up the Bone Chopper.

The moment Han Fei touched the Bone Chopper, it cut a wound into his finger.

The Bone Chopper, steeped in the Black Blood of the Pig-faced Monster, was filled with malice towards Han Fei. Enduring the pain, he checked and found that if he were to change Professions using the Bone Chopper, his compatibility would fall below 50%, leading to a possible transformation failure.

"It really is difficult to find the right Slaughter Saber for oneself."

Han Fei had also touched the Bone Chopper and discovered the remaining Hatred of the Pig-faced Monster only after doing so. He remembered that the Monster would shatter the Slaughter Saber of its victims after killing them; now he wanted to try it himself.

Raising the Boning Knife, Han Fei aimed for the edge of the Bone Chopper and chopped down.

The six Mourning Souls within the Mourning Door frenziedly gnawed at the malice and killing intent within the Bone Chopper, and with the loss of its master, the Chopper could not resist as the vivid red stains on its body began to fade slowly.

As the bloodstains on the Bone Chopper completely disappeared, bloodstains started to appear on the pale Boning Knife, and it seemed as if the fine cracks on the blade’s edge had also diminished somewhat.